


Bad day turned good

by FPwoper



Series: SPN Kink Bingo 2018 [8]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Benny cheers him up, Dean Winchester Has a Bad Day, Depressed Dean Winchester, First Kiss, M/M, Pining, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 21:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16542974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FPwoper/pseuds/FPwoper
Summary: Dean has had an extremely shitty day, and somehow he manages to make it even worse by getting into a fight with his best friend, roommate, and secret crush Benny. Luckily, Benny is a forgiving dude.SPN Kink Bingo square: First KissSPN ABO Bingo square: Roommates+ Prompt: “I wish I could hate you.”





	Bad day turned good

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I'm not even sure if these count anymore but hey, here they are anyway.
> 
> SPN Kink Bingo square: First Kiss  
> SPN ABO Bingo square: Roommates [this one doesn't count anymore for the 2018 bingo card]  
> \+ Prompt: “I wish I could hate you.” For @deadpanpool
> 
> I’m so sorry this is late.  
> Also, unbeta'd. I'm sorry. I'm tired and it's late.

Dean met Benny through mutual friends. Somehow, they had never met before, but they hit it off immediately. So much so that Dean regretted not getting the guy’s number when he and Charlie left that evening. Still, Dean counted on them meeting again at another gathering, but it didn’t happen.

Until Dean got a new job and had to move. He didn’t quite have enough money to get an apartment of his own but he figured that he could always room with someone. So he browsed all the websites and went to see quite some apartments. None of them ever felt good to him, and he was steadily getting more and more desperate. He’d already started working his new job and he’d been crashing with one of his co-workers, but that just… didn’t work out in the long run. Dean wanted to be living with someone he didn’t already see every day at work.

That was when he stumbled upon the Craigslist ad. It looked like a decent apartment, kept clean (or at least cleaned for the pictures), and although it was only a one-bedroom apartment, there were two beds crammed into the small space. What pulled Dean towards the apartment most, though, was the feeling of cosiness that surrounded it all. Everything looked small but well-kept, the space well utilised to get most out of it. Dean decided to send the lister a message and, luckily, didn’t have to wait too long for a reply. The lister’s name was Benny and Dean thought the name sounded familiar but shrugged it off – he’d met so many new people lately that he’d kind of given up retaining all of them. Familiarity of name didn’t mean that he actually knew the lister.

The appointment to view the apartment was on a Wednesday, and Dean was already way too eager to see the space on Monday, barely making his way through the day without telling everyone about seeing an apartment he was actually happy about. Of course, he knew better than to get his hopes up, but apparently, his hopes were up already and there was no way of bringing them down before he saw the apartment. Tuesday found Dean much like Monday, but he reined it in slightly because his co-workers were looking at him funnily at this point.

When Wednesday finally came around, Dean was glad to get out of the office at five pm sharp, much like his colleagues, he imagined. They must have been anxious to get rid of him, as well. At 5.30 he was bouncing on his feet in front of a generic looking blue door that would lead him to the apartments above. A kindly looking older lady let him in when he told her which apartment he came for.

“Oh, you’re here for Benny? I hope you like him,” she said, and smiled at him. “The man has been alone for too long and getting a roommate would definitely help him get back on his feet again.”

While Dean pondered the lady’s strange remarks, he went up to the second floor and rang the doorbell on a white door labelled 3A. It was the number Benny gave him, and well… Dean was both excited and nervous. He wanted Benny to like him, but not just because he wanted to move out of his co-worker’s hairs. He also just wanted new friends that didn’t work with him.

Dean heard a noise on the other side of the door and forced his hands and feet to still. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His hands were sweaty but he didn’t want to wipe them on his pants – not when Benny could open the door any moment now.

When the door opened and Benny poked his head out, Dean gasped. He knew this Benny. He’d met him before.

“Benny Lafitte?” Dean asked, and Benny nodded, shaking Dean’s hand.

“You’re Dean, Charlie’s friend, right?” Benny said. “I didn’t quite catch your last name, but yeah, I know you, too.”

“That’s such a coincidence,” Dean said, smiling widely. The burly man hadn’t changed at all, and Dean felt the instant attraction return. “My last name is Winchester, by the way. Just so we’re on equal footing here.”

“Nice to meet you again, Dean Winchester. Come on in, I’ll show you around.”

Dean followed Benny into the small apartment, stepping into the tiny hall. He removed his shoes, put them on the shoe rack, and took off his coat, hanging it over one of the coat hooks.

“Okay, so here to the left is the kitchen,” Benny said, leading Dean into the small but well-utilised space. “I don’t own a dish washer so we’d have to do them by hand, but if it’s just the two of us, there won’t be a lot of dishes anyway. So, there’s the bathroom over here as well, just off the kitchen, and then… if you’d follow me.”

Dean looked into the bathroom only briefly, but the shower and sink were good enough for him. He then followed Benny into the living room (which was also small, but cosy, and it looked like a great space to hang out in with friends), and finally the bedroom.

“It’s not big,” Benny said, sounding apologetic. “But if you’re okay with sharing, it’s the perfect size.”

“I can’t bring my work home with me, anyway,” Dean joked, and Benny snorted.

“No place to work on it, no. Just the living room, I’m afraid. But hey, rent is cheap and I’m assuming we’re both not here during the day anyway, so I think it’ll work out just fine.” Benny looked at Dean expectantly. “So what do you think?”

Dean looked back, smile overtaking his features. “I’m thinking that I’ll take it. When can I move in?’

Benny laughed uproariously and shook his head. “Yesterday? Come on, we’ll talk about it around the kitchen table.”

Dean followed him and knew that this, whatever this was, could only get better.

 

***

 

Dean is right. They became good friends quite easily, falling into the pattern of Dean cooking and them doing the dishes together. Dean often thinks that it’s just like living together with a partner, just… without any romantic attachment. Well, on Benny’s side, that is. There’s plenty of romantic attachment on Dean’s side. Every day, he notices something new about Benny that he really likes, and that he slowly falls in love with. Sometimes it’s the laugh lines around his eyes, other times the way his muscles flex when he lifts something heavy.

When Dean signed the rental contract, it didn’t say anything about them bringing home conquests, but neither of them ever did. It might have been the space, but at the same time, Dean hasn’t brought anyone home (or has gone home with anyone) since meeting Benny again. It’s not that he doesn’t have the time to go out and get some ass, male or female, but his drive to find someone has completely disappeared. He _likes_ staying in with Benny and just watching films and playing video games and sometimes even board games. He likes when their mutual friends come over, and he _loves_ when Charlie comes over. She seems to know that something is up with Dean but doesn’t seem to want to bring it up either, and Dean is fine with that. He’s more than fine with it – he’s happy that she doesn’t try to talk to him about his very obvious feelings for Benny. She does question why two grown dudes live in such a small apartment and then share the same bedroom, but doesn’t press it when they simply state ‘money’ as their main reason.

Dean knows he’s got enough saved up to find something bigger and move out if he wants to, but the point is that he doesn’t want to. He likes where he is, he likes with whom he lives, and he likes that it’s all so cosy. It… gives him a reason to cuddle up to Benny when it’s cold, and when there’s a lot of people around… Generally, Dean likes the house to be full. Can you blame him?

Benny is rather tactile, as well, and it’s not even strange for them to cuddle on the couch when they’ve had a bad day at work, or when the weather isn’t quite so good. They are really good friends that don’t adhere to the standard masculine rules and regulations or whatever. They like to cuddle.

Dean sometimes wonders if there isn’t space for something more in their friendship. Sometimes, he wonders if Benny doesn’t feel something more for him, as well. It’s the small things: Benny’s hands straying slightly lower than strictly necessary when hugging, or the fact that some touches linger for quite a bit. They are small, but significant to Dean anyway, because he does it as well, and he knows his own motivation for them. Still, he tells himself it doesn’t mean anything.

 

***

 

The day Dean has seven customers that chew him out for something he didn’t even do is the day he gives up on just about everything. His boss looks at him in pity and sends him home early, and Dean is glad that he can’t work at home. He just… sits on the couch until Benny comes home. Usually, when Benny’s finished with work, Dean has dinner ready, but today, he hasn’t. Today, he just sat on the couch from 3pm until 6pm, and it makes him feel even shittier.

“Are you okay, cher?” Benny asks as soon as he sees Dean sitting on the couch, staring into space. Dean doesn’t reply, and Benny sits down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulder and pulling Dean in for a hug. Now, Dean does react. He moves his arms around Benny as well, and pulls him in closer, pushing his face against Benny’s neck. He’s worrying the inside of his lip now and can’t seem to stop it. He also feels tears well up but blinks them back. Benny’s hands slowly move over his back in a soothing motion – the man really knows him well. Comfort is what he needs right now, and maybe he should have just texted Benny already to tell him that he was home because of shit happening at work.

“Tell me about what happened?” Benny asks softly, and Dean shakes his head.

“Bad day at work,” he simply says. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s okay. Should I order pizza, then?”

Dean nods gratefully, and while Benny reaches for his phone, he allows Dean to snuggle in closer again. They cuddle until the pizza arrive, and even after, Dean eats only a few slices before cosying back up to Benny again. He needs the comfort of his bear right now, and he doesn’t care that it might give Benny the wrong idea at all.

At some point, they disentangle and Benny gets up to grab some alcohol. Dean makes grabby hands for the vodka, but Benny denies him.

“Benny, give me that,” Dean demands, although it sounds more demanding in Dean’s mind than it does when spoken aloud. He realises that it’s probably more petulant, instead.

“You shouldn’t, Dean,” Benny admonishes. “You’re a maudlin drunk, and you’re already not feeling okay. Plus, you don’t want to tell me about what’s wrong, and I don’t even want to know all the details. I just want to know if I can _help_.” The frustration is clear in his voice, and Dean knows that rehashing this same argument is not going to give it a new, unexpected ending. They’ll just end up fighting about Dean’s drinking habits.

Dean’s not stupid, he knows only one bottle of beer will be his limit if he doesn’t want to spiral into more negative thoughts, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t want more to drink. Or something heavier.

“Just give me some, Benny. You’re not my Dad, just… let me.”

“No, Dean. Not again. We’ve had this argument before and I just don’t want to be the one to clean everything up in the morning again.”

“Shut up, Benny,” Dean explodes. “You’re not my parent, you’re not my carer, you shouldn’t give a fuck about me and how I cope with bad days. And honestly, I should have expected today. It’s not the first time I’ve fucked up, and it won’t be the last. Today just had a sudden influx of people realising that I’m shit at doing my job. It was just seven customers who told me that I wasn’t good enough for where I am, and then my boss took pity and sent me home.” Dean scoffs, looking down at his hands. “And then I get home and can’t even do anything. Didn’t make you dinner, didn’t clean the bathroom or the kitchen… just sat here and did nothing. I’ve never been so useless in my entire life.” Still looking down at his hands, Dean continues. “And then you… you take care of me. You order pizza and make sure I don’t get into the hard liquor and honestly… honestly, I don’t deserve that. I wish I could hate you.” Dean looks up and sees Benny pale at the onslaught of negative thoughts. Suddenly, he has to bite his lip to refrain from crying, and it’s all too much.

“I didn’t think it was so bad,” Benny whispers, pulling Dean close again. Dean wants to push Benny away, wants to prove that he doesn’t need the man, but then he settles in anyway. He knows Benny won’t let him go. It takes Dean a while to calm down again, but when he does, he feels like he can handle his life again.

They are just back to holding each other on the couch, and it’s perfect for Dean. Dean presses a small kiss just under Benny’s ear, and whispers a _thank you_ , and Benny turns his head, smiling sadly. It’s clear that Dean doesn’t have to thank him, but Dean still feels the obligation to thank him. Even if nothing between them ever changed, Dean will always be thanking whoever up there for what made him end up with Benny again. Even if there never is something romantically between them.

Now, though, there’s something in Benny’s eyes that makes Dean want to take that leap anyway. He leans in closer, telegraphing his movements to Benny, who doesn’t move. His eyes darken, and Dean knows it was the right decision. They might have to talk about it later, but for now, their first kiss is simply something to be enjoyed.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [tumblr](http://fpwoper.tumblr.com%22)


End file.
